Ameiva Auberi Ustulata, Squamata
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WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS IRCF REPTILES • VOL15, & N AMPHIBIANSO 4 • DEC 2008 189• 19(2):85–89 • JUNE 2012 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES Courtship. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis Behavior catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: in the Cuban Ameiva On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: (AmeivaA Hypothetical auberi Excursion ............................................................................................................................ ustulata, Squamata:Robert W. Henderson Teiidae) 198 fromRESEARCH the ARTICLES Siboney-Juticí Ecological Reserve . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida .............................................Brianin J. Camposano, Eastern Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M.Cuba Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 CONSERVATION ALERT Yasel U. Alfonso1 and Javier Torres2 . World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 1 . More Than MammalsCentro de ...................................................................................................................................................................... Aplicaciones Tecnológicas para el Desarrollo Sostenible (CATEDES/CITMA) I, 223 . The “DowAgramonte Jones Index” No. 818of Biodiversity e/ Aguilera ........................................................................................................................................... y Prado, Guantánamo, CP 95100, Cuba ([email protected]) 225 2Departamento de Biología Animal y Humana, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de la Habana, HUSBANDRYCalle 25 # 455 e/ J e I, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, CP 10400, Cuba ([email protected]) . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 PROFILE . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234 Abstract.—COMMENTARYThe genus Ameiva Meyer 1795 comprises 23 species of which 14 are found in Central and South America and. 18The Turtlesoccur Have in Been the Watching West Me Indies. ........................................................................................................................ These lizards occupy diverse habitats (e.g., Eric grasslands, Gangloff 238 tropical for- ests, sandy beaches) but most species appear to prefer open areas. They are ground-dwellers and active diurnal BOOK REVIEW foragers. Cuba harbors only one species, . However, 40 subspecies are distributed widely across . Threatened Amphibians of the World editedAmeiva by S.N. Stuart,auberi M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, the main island,R. Berridge,adjacent P. Ramani, cays, and and B.E. Youngon into .............................................................................................................. the Bahamas. Reproductive behavior hasRobert beenPowell documented243 in some species in the family Teiidae, but not for A. auberi, about which only one published account reported the underground CONSERVATION deposition RESEARCH of a single REPORTS: egg. Herein, Summaries of we Published describe Conservation for Researchthe first Reports time ................................. the reproductive 245 behavior NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 (except ovipositioning) NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... of A. auberi ustulata in natural habitat in the Ecological Reserve Siboney-Juticí 248 (eastern Cuba) on 22–25EDITORIAL July INFORMATION2009. Between ..................................................................................................................................................... 1200 and 1600 h, we observed six mating pairs directly 251 or while using FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252 monocular Nikon Fieldscopes. We describe three sequential stages of reproductive behavior: (1) Pursuit, (2) premating and mating, and (3) excavation, with a total duration of 64.8 ± 17.6 min (46–92 min). he family Teiidae Gray 1827,Front with Cover. a distribution Shannon Plummer. lim- SmithBack 1968), Cover. Michael A. festiva Kern (Smith 1968), A. fuscata (Somma and Tited to the Western Hemisphere,Totat etcontains velleseque audantnine mo genera BrooksTotat et 1976),velleseque audantA. pleii mo (Censky 1995a, 1995b), and A. exsul estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil (Hower and Hedges 2003). One oferspienimus, these, the quos genus accullabo. Ameiva Ilibus erspienimus,(Lewis 1986, quos accullabo. Rodríguez-Ramirez Ilibus and Lewis 1991, Lewis et al. Meyer 1795, includes 32 species, of whichaut dolor 14apicto occur invere inpe dolumCentral 2000).aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque and South America and the remainingmoditia 18 erere in thenonsedis West ma sectiatur Indies. moditia The erere Cuban nonsedis ma Ameiva sectia- (Ameiva auberi Cocteau 1838) con- These species occupy diverse habitats,ma derrovitae including voluptam, grasslands, as quos tainstur ma 40 derrovitae currently voluptam, recognized as subspecies. Twenty-eight of tropical forests, and sandy beaches (Schwartzaccullabo. and Henderson these are widely distributed across the Cuban archipelago, 1991, Hower and Hedges 2003, Henderson and Powell including a number of tiny cays (Gali and Garrido 1986, 2009), where most West Indian species appear to prefer open Rodríguez 2000). The only aspect of the species’ reproductive areas. These lizards are generally characterized as terrestrial biology to have been described is a single instance of ovide- diurnally active foragers (e.g., Schwartz and Henderson 1991, position (Estrada et al. 1987). Herein we describe for the first Sproston et al. 1999, Henderson and Powell 2009), although time courtship behavior in six mating pairs of Ameiva auberi a few individuals of some species have been observed ascend- ustulata Schwartz 1970 in their natural habitat. ing tree trunks in search of prey (Powell and Censky 2002). Despite the diversity and abundance of these lizards little Materials and Methods is known about their natural history, particularly reproduc- We conducted fieldwork on 22–25 July 2009 in the tion. Reproductive behavior has been described in other Ecological Reserve Siboney-Juticí, Santiago de Cuba (Fig. 1), species in the genus Ameiva, including A. ameiva (Simmons where Ameiva auberi ustulata is abundant (Fong et al. 2005). 1975, Quesnel 1978, Costa et al. 2010), A. chrysolaema Pairs were observed directly or using a monocular Nikon (Noble and Teale 1930), A. quadrilineata (Hirth 1963, Fieldscope. Observations occurred between 1200 and 1600 h Copyright © 2012. Yasel U. Alfonso. All rights reserved. 85 ALFONSO AND TORRES IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 19(2):85–89 • JUNE 2012 Figure 1. Locations of observations of mating Ameiva auberi ustulata in the Ecological Reserve Siboney-Juticí, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. and were made from distances of 5.7–21.4 m (15.8 ± 5.8 m). side opposite the bitten limb, in effect forming a horseshoe, We measured the duration of each stage with a digital chro- the ends of which are the head and vent of the male (Fig. 2B). nometer (rounded to the nearest 0.1 s). Means are presented Subsequent separation (Fig. 2C) is quick and abrupt, with ± one standard deviation. individuals often separating by >50 cm. Excavation lasted 26.5 ± 17.4 min (12.7–53.4 min) and Results entailed both individuals digging a hole with a diameter of We observed six copulating pairs, for which we described ~2 cm and a depth to as much as 28 cm (Figs. 2D–E). Both three behavioral stages: (1) pursuit, (2) premating and mat- lizards repeatedly entered and left the hole until excavation ing, and (3) excavation. Pursuit lasted 32.0 ± 4.0 min (27.6– was concluded (Fig. 2F). Entire episodes lasted 64.8 ± 17.6 37.4 min). Males actively pursue females and might engage min (46–92 min). with other males competing for the same female. Some male aggression might be directed at the potential mate. During Discussion these engagements, a large and apparently dominant male All of our observations of mating occurred from 1200–1600 bites or attacks other nearby males, often chasing them con- h. Sampedro et al. (1982) indicated that the activity period siderable distances before returning to the female. Once for this species is 900–1600 h, with a peak at 1100–1200 h. other males are dispersed, the winner initiates actual court- Activity periods for other West Indian species of Ameiva are ship by closely following the female along a serpentine trajec- unimodal or bimodal, usually with peaks in both instances at tory